After taking taking Dennis’s aka “Sunshine Coasting’s” advise I bit the bullet and drove down from Gympie just north from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland and went to down to a beautiful part of Victoria about three hours north of Melbourne in the Lakes Entrance area called Paynesville. Not leaving much change out of a 4000 klm return trip for a three day weekend trip. There I met the owner (now previous owner) of the Mac X I had purchased sight unseen. I did however spend a small fortune on a professional survey so did not go in blind. If geographically you find a boat not within viewing distance and things get serious I strongly suggest a professional survey for peace of mind. Hitching up to my newly purchased 2005 Hyundai Terracan turbo diesel which I can’t recommend highly enough as a tow vehicle, we were invited in for a cup of coffee and a pleasant chat with a lovely couple in a beautiful house over looking stunning views of Lakes Entrance before heading north back to Sunny Queensland. The trip both ways went with out a hitch checking my bearings (heat test) and doing a complete walk around checking straps, tow hitch, boat and lights at each refill of tank.
The following weekend involved a day of cleaning inside and out and getting to know the boat and spending some funds on cabin utensils. Through the week the boat was booked for a complete engine service.
Last weekend was launch day and I met Dennis and his wonderful wife Elvie at Mooloolaba 9:00 am sharp. Elvie decided to go for a walk while we sifted through a first time set up. Although Dennis has a similar Mac X mine had a slightly different set up. I’m sure all of you have been through a first time set up and if it wasn’t for Dennis it would have been a lot more dramatic then it ended up being. Dennis was a God send. After a few minor dramas,one which involved a broken spreader Elvie turned up on cue with three cups of coffee and soon to be followed by my partner Teresa. A visit to the local ship chandler for some life jackets and a pair of bumpers by the girls and me doing a quick visit to a servo around the corner for some fuel and we were off. Or so I thought. We had troubles launching the boat on her near new trailer. The trailer sits quite high and the lack of rollers, carpet on the skids and anti foul were not a combination for an easy launch. Finally we freed her from the trailer by reversing the Terracan uncomfortable close to the waters edge so she can float off. Once on our way we motored out past the break wall then unfurled the big Genoa, followed by the main. All the time taking mental notes on what needs to be worked on, or replaced. The afternoon sail was just perfect for a first time sail. Heading back into the breakwater we emptied the ballast and revved up the 50 Hp Yamaha 4 stroke and had her on her toes. I had a smile from ear to ear as I did figure eights out the front of the Mooloolaba Surf club before heading into the breakwater and slowing down to the legal 6 knots. These things can boggie for a sailboat!
Leaving her on a public wharf the four of us eventually headed of to the Mooloolaba yacht club for a well deserved dinner and conversations about the day. Dennis and Elvie were fantastic and again I can’t thank them enough for their troubles. We said goodnight and secured the Mac for the night and went home looking forward to going out on the following day to carry out the re-naming ceremony. Dennis offered to meet me at the ramp at 2 pm in case we had trouble bringing her out. Teresa and I set off on Sunday morning and motored out to “Old Woman Island” due to lack of wind and laid anchor for the re naming Ceremony from Lochdubh to “SEA POODLE” Teresa recited a few pages of words to the Gods as I spent a bottle of fine sparkling wine into the Tasman sea and to the four brothers of the winds. The ceremony was over and the Mac is now officially re-named in a fashion to appease the Gods.
We sailed lazily back just under the genoa with Teresa having a snooze under a beautiful winters day sun. I couldn’t help myself as we drew nearer the break wall and again emptied the ballast and let “Sea Poodle” of her leash. What a blast! What are these things like with a 90 hp on the transom? We headed back in to meet Dennis and we loaded her on the trailer with out too many dramas. Dennis left to make a dinner date with his mum, and we put Sea Poodle to bed leaving her on the trailer with mast up at the marina hard stand area. A good wash down and flush the motor out then off we went for a relaxing evening at Teresa’s home just 5 minutes down the road,looking forward to carrying out some re-work and customising, and another weekend of play on Sea poodle.
To Dennis and Elvie a big grateful thank you for all your help and hoping to catch up really soon as ai hear another Mac X is making her way from the USA to Mooloolaba.

Thanks for the kind words, we had a lovely time with Teresa and yourself.

Looking forward to Ian's boat arriving, Ian had an but I am not sure why he parted with it, I am sure though that he will really enjoy the , he has been in touch with me recently and I look forward to possibly being involved in his first launch also. I think we definitely need to get all our boats out on the same weekend, raft up near the rock wall just outside the river mouth and have coffee, sounds like a plan

Hi Rick
My first time using a forum (apologies in advance for any incorrect etiquette)
My question is, Did you do the maths between driving ; fuel,accommodation etc
compared to freight costs to get her home ?
Ive been looking for a while and I'm in a similar situation as to yours,not sure which way to go
drive/freight ?

Hi Robbo,
Sorry for the late reply.
My intention was to have the Mac X freighted up but the costs were quite high in my opinion. Average from Lakes Entrance in Victoria, to Gympie Queensland approx. 2 hours north from Brisbane on the Bruce hwy was $2,500 to $3,900. Some were cheaper but they wanted to tow the vehicle. This then caused an insurance issue as What would happen if something went wrong? Usually the tow vehicle has the responsibility but it could get messy. I had one guy drop his price from $2500 down to $1,500.00 but wanted payment up front. Yeah right. I bet I would still be waiting for my boat and all of a sudden my contact number from him will be a "This number is no longer in service" message. I put an ad on a site called 'load Shift" and also tried Gumtree. After a month or so I gave up and did the maths, and took "Sunshine Coasting's" advice on here. it was a hard call. My personal car is a hot hatch which is a garage Queen and is not rated for towing. My run around go to the shops,Bunnings and leave at work car is an old Holden Commodore VS wagon. Current towbar rating of 1200kgs. Not suitable and quite frankly may not have been up to it even if I did upgrade to a heavy duty towbar which would give it an 1800 kg rating. So I bit the bullet and purchased the Terracan. Obviously it cost me more to go this way but in reality I would have needed a decent tow vehicle any way so it just brought the decision forward.
The cost in fuel and accommodation was approx $700.00 all up. The Terracan was awsome in towing the boat and is great on fuel towing, and sensational unladen. The bonus was we had a bit of a road trip stopping in at Canberra as well, and seeing a part of the country I hadn't seen before. Lakes Entrance was beautiful. We took a bit of a gamble on driving down in an untried vehicle. ( I bought the Terracan second hand its a 2006 model and had 94,00 klms on the clock one pensioner owner) but certainly payed off.
Where are you located? and where are you thinking of purchasing from?
Rick.

Crikey, I've only just now seen this! Glad to see you all had a great time, though. Superb to hear Rick is having fun with his new Mac, and he found just the right guy to get him started. Fair winds to all of you!

Thanks for the figures
I think which ever way I go (north or south) I'll drive and make a bit of a holiday out of it
Im located just north of newcastle and it seems any that I might be interested in are either in Vic or Qld

Hey Robbo,
I use to live at Belmont on Lake Macquarie so I know the area well. Right near the 16 foot sailing club. Feel free to ask for advise on here. There are some really good people that will gladly want to help you.
Cheers.